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Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), volume 135 1st International Conference on Intervention and Applied Psychology (ICIAP 2017) Social Anxiety and Internet Addiction: CBT Intervention Module Development Based on Self-Reflection a b* b Ayu Pradani Sugiyanto Putri , Elizabeth Kristi Poerwandari , and Erida Rusli aClinical Adult Magister-Profession, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia; bClinical Psychology Department, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia. *Corresponding Author: Elizabeth Kristi Poerwandari Clinical Psychology Department Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia Jl. Lkr. Kampus Raya, Depok, Jawa Barat Indonesia, 16424 Tel.: +62 217270004 Email address: elizabeth.kristi@ui.ac.id Copyright © 2018, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. 396 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), volume 135 Social Anxiety and Internet Addiction: CBT Intervention Module Development Based on Self-Reflection This study presents an intervention module development based on the self-reflection of the first author, who has been experiencing social anxiety and Internet addiction. Said author has also been experiencing fear of negative evaluation and has negative beliefs about her ability to perform appropriately in social situations. Internet addiction has become her safe haven from social anxiety, allowing her to avoid anxiety from interactions with others and escape from her problems by engaging in more pleasurable activities derived from Internet use. Internet addiction provides gratification, including comfortable feeling and fulfillment of social relationship needs online. Based on the autoethnography as needs assessment, combined with the literature review, the author— who is specializing in clinical psychology—proposes an intervention module. Her self- awareness about her problems and its negative consequences motivated her to monitor her behavior. She also realized the importance of helping others undergoing similar or even worse problems. The cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention module includes the following: (1) psychoeducation about social anxiety and Internet addiction, (2) behavior modification to control excessive Internet consumption, (3) cognitive restructuring, and (4) exposure/assignment to develop social skills. After undergoing the intervention module, the first author showed a decline in Internet addiction and social anxiety. After that, three participants who also underwent intervention also showed a decrease in Internet addiction and social anxiety after six sessions. This article contributes to the literature by explaining Internet addiction and intervention from the perspective of someone who overcame the problems of social anxiety and Internet addiction after undergoing the proposed intervention. Keywords: Internet addiction, intervention, social anxiety, social networking sites addiction, therapy Introduction The Internet is an integral part of human life. Social networking sites (SNS) comprise one of the most popular Internet contents. Someone with social anxiety can gain benefits from using SNS as it is driven by the fulfillment of the needs of belonging and self-presentation (Nadkarni & Hofmann as cited in Casale & Fioravanti, 2015). Social anxiety is a dysfunctional belief, in which the individual perceives that he/she will be negatively evaluated by others, thus making him/her consider social situations as threatening situations (Clark & Wells, 1995). Therefore, such an individual often has unrealistically high standards toward oneself whenever he/she is interacting with others (Clark & Wells, 1995). Someone with social anxiety turns to SNS to help him/her fulfill the need of self-disclosure while in a relationship with others (Weidman et al., 2012). Through SNS, they can control and 397 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), volume 135 prepare things they can “present” to others (Lee & Stapinski, 2012) as well as hide their expression and physical appearance from others (Young & Lo, 2012). They believe SNS can minimize the negative evaluations of other people. Interacting through SNS provides reinforcements that, in turn, motivate an individual to repeat the behavior and gain the same reinforcements (Davis, 2001). The above process can lead to Internet addiction (Davis, 2001). Internet addiction or pathological Internet use that is uncontrolled and problematic, thus causing negative consequences (Young, 2009). A past study has proven that there exists a direct link between social anxiety and problematic Internet usage (Casale, 2015). Social anxiety is also confirmed as a significant predictor of problematic Internet usage when controlling depression and anxiety problem (Lee & Stapinski, 2012). The excessive use of the Internet provides only superficial benefits. Lee and Stapinski (2012) argue that online contact actually encourages a person to avoid face-to-face interaction. Some people tend to feel that their online life is better than what they have in the real world, assuming their social skills are increasing (Lee & Stapinski, 2012), and feel success in establishing relationships using SNS (Shalom et al., 2015). Actually, the excessive Internet usage of individuals with social anxiety leads to low levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem and high level of depression (Weidman et al., 2012). This is because their efforts to compensate for their inability to interact with others ultimately fail to improve their well-being. The Internet can also actually lead its users to further loneliness, withdrawal from their social environments, and restrictions in genuine social relationships (Wolfradt & Doll as cited in Mazalin & Moore, 2004; Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). The authors of the present study have yet to find a module of intervention to resolve Internet addiction (particularly addiction to SNS) caused by social anxiety. Hence, this study aims to develop a specific module that can be used as an intervention to help resolve Internet addiction caused by social anxiety. This module combines the first author’s autoethnography and self- reflection as needs assessment, the literature review about Internet addiction, social anxiety, and the relevant interventions. Methods Participant 1 (Self-reflection) This study was based on the social anxiety and Internet addiction experienced by the first author (female, 25 years old). She is a master’s degree student majoring in clinical adult psychology. Her background made her more adequate to monitor her behavior and know what method would be more effective to overcome social anxiety and Internet addiction. The other two authors are her supervisors tasked to supervise and strengthen objectivity in problem analysis and development of the intervention module. Based on the first author’s experience and the literature 398 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), volume 135 review, the authors proposed an intervention module to overcome Internet addiction—especially SNS addiction—caused by social anxiety. Second Set of Participants (Intervention Module Trial) Once developed, the intervention module was tested on participants who met the following inclusion criteria: (a) undergraduate student of Universitas Indonesia, (b) preferred to interact by using SNS rather than face-to-face interactions, (c) a score of above 49 in the Internet Addiction Test (Young, 1998), (d) a measurement score of above or equal to 34 in the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (Mattick & Clarke, 1998), and (e) willing to undergo the intervention by filling out the informed consent provided by the authors. The intervention program lasted for six weeks and consisted of one pre-session and five main sessions. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention sessions were conducted individually. Each session was scheduled with a one-week break and each session lasted for ± 2 hours. Two weeks after the last session, the authors conducted a follow-up to determine whether the participants showed any changes after following the intervention module. Research Design This study used the autoethnography method as the basis of the needs assessment for designing the intervention module. Autoethnography is a qualitative research in nature, and autobiographical writing can help researchers explore an individual’s unique life experiences in relation to social and cultural institutions (Custer, 2014). This method of research involves self- observation and reflective investigation (Marechal, as cited in Chang, 2011). The type of autoethnography used in this work is analytic autoethnography, which focuses on developing theoretical explanations of broader social phenomena (Chang, 2011). In addition to self- reflection, the authors also conducted a literature review to analyze the experiences recorded and develop the intervention module. The module was then tested in three participants to check its effectiveness in reducing Internet addiction and social anxiety. Results The Case (Self-Narratives of the First Author) Social Anxiety Ever since my teens, I realized that speaking in front of people or being the center of attention made me worried. It was hard for me to express what I was thinking or feeling in good sentences. I was always afraid that people would not understand what I was talking about. I was afraid that people could see my weaknesses. I chose to stay silent even though I had something in my mind. I only focused on worrying about the things that people would think about me. I was terrified that people would think that my ideas were silly and dumb. I also felt that my opinion was lacking and can be considered nothing compared to others. 399
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